15: Say Goodbye to Mosquitos with These Natural Solutions

It's that time again! Spring has sprung. Are you ready for sunshine, gardening, afternoons in the park, and mosquitoes?

Yep! I didn't stutter. I said mosquitoes. They are inevitable, especially this time of year in the US. So if you have not prepared for their daunting march, I've got you covered. Listen in all you can do to help deter, prevent, and avoid (as much as humanly possible) these thirsty bloodsuckers that love to crush our outdoor fun.

For a more in-depth look at surviving mosquito season without harmful chemicals, check out my blog post at https://ecocratesofamerica.com/natural-solutions-to-mosquito-control/.

And don't forget to hit subscribe, or you might miss our next episode. How sad would that be?

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Transcript

Jaime Snell: 0:00

Welcome back to the ECO Mama podcast. My name is Jaime Snell and I'll be your ECO mama guide. Today, this podcast, I want to talk about something that we all experience. And I don't know anyone in the world that likes it, and it's something that is usually seasonal depending on where you live. And that's mosquitoes. Ugh. I hate mosquito season. I think that's part of the reason that I left Florida was because of all the darn mosquitoes everywhere. It seemed like year round, and our last house was on a marsh, so that certainly did not help the situation. But in particular, I wanna talk about some natural ways that we can help deter mosquitoes from entering our house and being around our yard and eating up our, our precious little babies. I know I don't like them, but my children as they've grown over the years, especially my son has just. Welted when he gets bitten and it's almost like he had an allergic reaction to it. So doing everything I could to avoid the mosquito bites to begin with was great. But it took me a lot of trial and error to find things that actually worked that were not harmful to his health. You've probably heard of some mosquito deterrents such as deet. Those are, it's an ingredient that's in a lot of the traditional. Mosquito sprays that you might put on your skin, but it's not good for you. It is not safe. So looking for alternatives was important to me when my kids were younger and now it's just a way of life for us. But I also do what I can in my yard to minimize what we have outside around our home, as well as what I have near my doors. Sorry that the mosquitoes don't come inside because. I don't know about you, but there's nothing worse than trying to go to bed at night and you're at home and it's safe and sound, and you're secure and you're under your covers, and all of a sudden you hear that little, that kind of sounds more like a fly, but you know what I mean? Like the buzz of the mosquito and you can't find him. But he's there and he's just hovering. It's like he's taunting you, waiting for you to fall asleep so that he can suck all the blood out of you. Yeah. Not my favorite time of the year. So let's get down to it and chat about some healthy natural ways we can keep these mosquitoes away from us when it's their time of year to thrive. All right. So as I mentioned you can easily get bitten if you are not protected. And some of us really do like break up in almost like hives, just like these huge welts that are on our body and they are miserable. You know, you wanna itch it, but the more you scratch it, the more it itches reasons that you want to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes. Aside from the fact that. Yeah. Ouch. They hurt and yikes. They are so annoying and itch like crazy. But they also can transfer viruses and that is not good because you can easily get sick if a mosquito has taken blood from another recipient and transferred into your body through the process of eating when they sting you. So there are quite a few dangers associated with mosquito bites. I remember the Zika virus that was freaking pregnant women out because they were having miscarriages and other complications in their pregnancies with mosquito bites. And they were advised to stay inside, like not to go outside to stay away from mosquitoes as much as possible. Arm yourself up with clothing and you know, just extra gear. And I think at that time, mamas were even turning to anything with DEET in it because even though there were complications with deet, I think there were less at the time than getting the Zeer virus. So, you know, sometimes we have to pick our poison and I don't like being in those predicaments. So I do what I can to avoid them. But to talk about some of the dangers other than The Zebra virus, the transmission of disease is very easily done with the mosquito bites. And examples of that would be if you get a mosquito-borne illness. So the things such as West Nile virus, Zika virus I mentioned, and even malaria, can be transferred through mosquito bites. Any of these will cause a range from mild fever to body aches and then even s severe conditions such as brain swelling or congenital disabilities. So it's important for all of us, of course, to be protected, but especially our children who are developing. The last thing you want is for them to be exposed to a virus that could affect brain swelling and that could affect long-term development of brain and cognitive skills. So doing your best to protect your children at a young age is something that I advocate for at. All times you can even be hospitalized. All right, so we know why we need to avoid it. Not just the annoying thing, but also for long-term health. Factors. Now there are many methods for controlling mosquitoes. Like I mentioned. There's the things that you can spray on your skin that you so many different brands carry it and DEET is an ingredients you want to avoid. But there are other ways that a lot of people have turned to in controlling mosquitoes. And I remember when I was in my teens, I lived off of this dirt road and at the back was a water treatment facility down off the dirt road. Now, Quite often this truck would come by and just spray this cloud of stuff up and down the road, probably twice a week, once or twice a week, and I never really understood what it was. I just knew it smelled really bad and I didn't wanna be around when that truck came by. Well, sure enough, over time I learned that. That was mosquito treatment. They were spraying a mosquito like chemical in the air to help deter mosquitoes that might gravitate towards the water treatment center because there was standing water and active water and you know, all these things going on with the water, and they wanted to avoid it being a mosquito breeding ground. So I'm thankful that they were trying to avoid that. However, what I've learned about these chemicals that companies will spray to help. Like mitigate the population for mosquitoes in our environment. Also does harm to other creatures. And it's harmful for us. It's harmful for us to breathe in for the particles to be in the air around where we are. It can soak into our skin if it's sprayed near us, and it can soak into our feet if it's still like residual on the ground, if it hasn't been completely washed away with a rain or some good watering of the ground. But even then, those chemicals will. Wash off the grass and run down into the sewer system and then get back into our water system. And even though there's a water treatment facilities, as I've covered in previous documentation, there's no guarantee those water treatment facilitations are going or facilities are going to be able to get. Every single chemical out of our water. So I think as conscious consumers and just for citizens and residents of the earth, it is truly our individual responsibility to help protect our natural resources. And that includes minimizing the chemicals that we use and the chemicals that get into our water systems. So let me tell you a little bit more about deet. DEET is a common active ingredient in insect repellants. It repels mosquitoes effectively. It can also be toxic if it's ingested or absorbed through the skin. In rare cases, deep can cause skin irritation, eye irritation, and even seizures. Another chemical that is often associated with mosquito deterrent is called permethrin. I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly. But permethrin is a chemical, often used to treat our clothing and outdoor gear that repels mosquitoes. So I think I have shared in the past that. Certain garments or Even bedding can have fire retardant, flame retardant. It's can be sprayed with formaldehyde so that it is wrinkle resistant. But some things that are made for outdoor use specifically are being treated with this permethrin so that the mosquitoes have no desire to land on you, get near your clothing or what have you. So while it's generally considered safer humans, it can be very. Toxic for aquatic life and should not be used anywhere around water. So if you're a hiker, I could see using it unless you're gonna hike up to a natural resource that has springs or a lake and then you wanna go swimming because even though you don't, might not swim in that shirt, those chemicals are still on your skin and they're gonna wash off. In that natural resource. So if this is something that you prefer to buy clothing that's treated with this chemical, please make sure you are responsible and not to wear it when you're gonna be in natural resources for water. Also, be mindful that when you wash it in your washing machine, these chemicals are gonna bleed off and they're going to get onto your other clothes and it's going to wash down the drain once it drains out. So, If you must wear them, I suggest washing them separately from anything else and then doing a really good rinse on your washing machine with vinegar and nothing else in it to make sure that those chemicals have been cleansed from your washing machine and they don't carry onto your other clothing. Okay. The next chemical I wanna talk about that is not good for us. It's been used to, or, or the environment that is used to been treat mosquitoes is, and again, forgive me for the pronunciation, but it's parethoids. It's a class of synthetic insecticides, commonly used for mosquito control while effectively killing mosquitoes. They can harm bees, fish. And other non-target organisms. So as I mentioned with that little story in the beginning, down that dirt road yeah, so that's one of the chemicals that they were spraying off of that truck. It's also one of the insecticides that they spray in our neighborhoods. So if you have neighbors that call Mosquito Joe, that's a popular company here, pay attention to what's in the ingredients of that because. I understand you don't want mosquitoes, and I understand you wanna avoid'em from your kids, but you have to pick your poison and decide what is gonna be, is there, is there a safer alternative that is viable for you than paying someone to come and poison the air around you? All right. The last one I wanna mention is malathion. Malathion is a highly toxic insecticide, often used for mosquito control as well. It can cause high doses of skin irritation, id irritation, nausea, vomiting, and even seizures. So I say, no thank you. I don't want that anywhere near me or my children, or my house, or my grass, or my yard. The potential health hazards of these chemical sprays, as I mentioned, they the. Skin irritation, eye irritation, respiratory problems, neurological effects. In some cases, they can have a negative environmental impact in our waterways, as I mentioned, but also to other beneficial insects and pollinators. All right, so let's talk about a few proactive measures. When you're ready to take on the great outdoors this summer, there's a good chance that those mosquitoes are going to be waiting for you. You're gonna have a party outside, or the barbecue in the pool. Guess who is gonna show up that was not invited. Mr. Mosquito and his group and his gang, the mosquito gang. So with these proactive measures, you can keep the mosquitoes at bay and still enjoy your outdoor activities without that constant buzz in your ear. So let's dive into these all natural and effective ways to maintain a mosquito free environment and say goodbye to itchy bites and irritating buzzes for good. All right. First and foremost, on proactive measures, eliminate Standing Water. You might have heard that pools of standing water, even as I mentioned before at the Water treatment center are kind of a mosquito breeding ground. So if it's, there is a chance that mosquitoes are going to absolutely. Gravitate towards that. Lay their eggs on the surface, and then voila, you have a mosquito village. So if you have a bucket in your yard that you forgot to turn upside down before the last rain or a rain barrel, it's not sealed properly. That's really, really an invitation for a mosquito breeding ground there. Or even an old tire in the yard. Or gosh, kids toys that you didn't realize were in the very back of your yard. Cans, I mentioned buckets. Wheelbarrow we're guilty sometimes for leaving our wheel bottle outside. If you have garbage cans, always keep a lid on them. If you have recycle bins and it doesn't have a hole in the bottom and you keep it outside, turn it upside down when it's not in use, or keep it in your garage to collect your recycle while. Well it rains because it will collect that water and especially outta sight outta mind. You will forget about it and the next thing you know, you go out to to dump it and it's full of mosquito larvae. And then little mamas and daddies like tending to their mosquito larvae and, ugh. No fun. Nobody wants that. There's also a chance that you could have standing water and puddles that are in your backyard after a heavy rain. So check the drainage in your yard and your driveway and any of your pavers and make sure that it's draining properly. I know we have two drain areas in our yard that I have to go out and clean periodically because just gravity and dirt. Leaves, et cetera, it'll clog the top of the drain. So I, if I don't clear it regularly, then the water has a difficult time draining down into the drainage system and it just pulls up and it'll sit there for a day or two unless the sun is super bright or it's. Super warm outside, so just be mindful of any standing water that you have. Eliminate all of as possible. Oh, flower pots is another great example. If you don't have proper drainage in your flower pots throughout your yard or in your garden and it rains a lot, it can collect that water or even your sprinkler systems. So make sure there's proper drainage in all pots that you have outside or turn them upside down if they're not in use, or better yet, store them in the garage. Another thing that. I would like to think goes without mention, but sometimes I am guilty of it too, is like if you're doing some yard work and you're collecting some things around the yard and you wanna get rid of it and you create this little. I don't know, Sanford and sun junk pile, I should say debris such as that are great for mosquitoes because they love to hide and clutter. So think of mosquitoes. You don't wanna give them a hide and seek spot, like that ideal. So just like a kid hiding under a pile of toys, mosquitoes love to hide and clutter in, so keep your yard clean and tidy. Which means fewer places for those pesky mosquitoes to hide and breed. So if you ever like scan your yard and you see something that could definitely be a shot from Sanford and Son. And if you're not familiar with Sanford and Son, I'm so sorry. Sanford and Son is a popular TV show decades ago. That was I think it was a father son business. It was junkyard. And then they would bring things in and repurpose and sell and, but there was just clutter everywhere in their yard and probably in part parts of their house too. So that's just kind of a reference I'd give that comes to mind for me. But you wanna keep your, your yard. Clean and tidy and you don't wanna leave any debris out. That could be a good heightened spot for the mosquitoes or their, their breeding spaces. Another thing about keeping a clean and tidy yard is that you eliminate the possibility for standing water to collect in any junk that you might have left out there. Tools, buckets, wheelbarrows. Yeah. So those are some ways to. Avoid having mosquitoes around, right? So you don't want them breeding in your yard, you don't want them breeding by your front door, anywhere near your grass, window, sills, pots, et cetera. Let's say mosquitoes still find their way into your yard because that's gonna happen. They're, they're, they live outside. They live in the outdoors. If you live anywhere near trees, they're going to still be around, even if you're not inviting them by leaving. The standing water around standing water is just kind of a guarantee that you're gonna get them in your yard. So there are some essential oils and plants that mosquitoes just hate. They absolutely abor and they want nothing to do with them, and they, it's almost like a A repellent. It's their kryptonite. So take some notes here, but I'm also gonna link a blog post that I have put out on this information. So if you're driving right now, obviously don't write any of this down. Just click back to this podcast later and you can click that link to the blog post and it will show you all of the, this information I'm about to give you. So you don't have to write it all down right now or memorize it, so you can always reference back to it. But so essential oils and plants that will help. The mosquitoes stay away from you and your yard. All right. Essential oils like citronella, lavender, and peppermint, they smell heavenly to us, but they are totally that kryptonite for mosquitoes. Like I mentioned, these national scents repel mosquitoes and keep them from biting you. So it's like wearing a perfume that the mosquitoes don't like em. You can use essential oils and a diffuser. You can mix them in a carrier oil, which is if you ever use an essential oil on your skin, you don't wanna use the pure oil because it will irritate your skin because it's so concentrated. Think of putting a hot, opening up a hot pepper and putting the seeds on your skin, like you don't wanna do that. They're safe, but it will irritate your skin because it's so concentrated. Essential oils are this. Same. So you wanna use a carrier oil, and the example of that would be olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil. Something that will kind of help dilute it, but also help it absorb into your skin without irritating it. So if you're going to put on an essential oil directly onto your skin, make sure you mix it with a carrier oil. You can apply it to your clothing. If you don't wanna put it on your skin, you can put it in a little sprayer and spritz your clothes. You can put it on your hair. Like you can just let it linger in your hair and it'll kind of permeate that natural scent will permeate off of you and they will not want it. I've even put it on my shoes before, like if I'm out for a long walk and I wanna protect my ankles, I'll spray it on my shoes, the tops of my shoes, and that really helps. All right. The best part is that you'll smell amazing. Yeah. Not some mosquitoes thankfully, but like, I just love the way it smells for myself. I stopped wearing perfume for others. And I just wear it because it makes me feel good. I like the way these natural oils that I've been blending, smell. All right. Plants. Plants are, are friends. And if you have spent some time with me, you'll know that I absolutely love plants. All right, so onto these plants, some of our leafy friends like marigolds, catnip, and lemon balm. Contain natural compounds that mosquitoes can't stand. So planting these in your yard or garden can help deter mosquitoes from coming near you. In addition, they add natural beauty to your outdoor space and attract friendly pollinators like Bees and butterflies. I'm gonna take that one step further and encourage these to be part of any planters that you might have by your front door or your side door or your back porch, because it's nice to have, number one. It's beautiful. It'll look at, but some of us will put a pretty flower pot or something by our front door as we walk in. Now if you have, if it's filled with citronella, lemon bomb. And marigolds, like they're going to not want anything. Mosquitoes are not gonna want anything to do with it, and they're going to avoid your front door. Like, if I could figure out a way to make a garland of these things at my front door, kind of like a garland of garlic deter vampires, then I would do it. And actually, it's probably a, that'd be a fun project to try this summer with my kids. But yeah, think of it like that, like you're protecting your door from vampires to come inside you. And that's exactly what. These little creatures are, they're like miniature vampires that just sneak in through the crevices. So by putting these in your windowsills, if you like to keep your windows open and you don't have great screens or by your front doors, so I would just put some of these in your planters as well as your garden and your yard, essential oils and plants. May not always eradicate mosquitoes from your life, but they definitely will help reduce their activity. Okay. They're natural and non-toxic, so you can use them anywhere without worries. I just highly encourage to have some of these ingredients on hand, whether it's the plant or a couple of the oils. All right. Examples of effective essential. Oils make a natural mosquito repellent at home. So some of us are total DIYs. I have been there. I'm there with certain things still, and there's other things. I look forward to experimenting as time allows in my life, and I go through the different phases. I will share these ideas with you, but do not think you have to do it yourself. I'm also going to share some natural brands, some trusted brands that have effective products that are safe for you. And your children. But for those of us that like to put it together ourselves, it's not always more cost effective because buying all of the ingredients to do it the right way can actually add up. That's more of a hobby than it is a cost saver. But it's fun to be able to do it ourselves and to always have the ingredients on hand if we like to mix up these things so that if you run out, you can always whip up a new batch. So to make a natural mosquito repellent makes 10 to 20 drops of the essential oils of your choice, such as citronella, lavender, or peppermint with two tablespoons of a carrier oil, such as coconut or Jehovah Oil, and a spray bottle. So coconut oil you can get at your grocery store. Costco has it. Now Jehovah Oil, you might not be familiar with it. It's J O J O B A. That is something, I've actually got like three bottles in my house. Trader Joe's has had it in the past, and it's a quality oil. I love it. So it's like two or$3 for a little jar of the Jehovah Oil, and it lasts me a long time. So that's what that oil is. So then fill your bottle. I prefer a glass spray bottle. If you have one available, whether it's small or larger, but fill your bottle with water and then shake it and fill your bottle with water, the oil, and the citronella, or the lavender and the peppermint oil, and shake well before spraying it on your skin or clothing. Okay, here we go. This is what I was mentioning before. Add essential oils to your outdoor candles. You can drop a few drops of essential oils such as lemon eucalyptus. Mm. That smells so good. I just wanna like inhale it right now, or geranium to your outdoor candles. Lighting them will release the essential oils into the air and it will help repel mosquitoes. Create an essential oil diffuser blend. Mix a few drops of essential oil, such as lemon grass, thyme, and basil, and an essential oil diffuser. This diffuser will release the scent into the air, helping to deter mosquitoes and create a pleasant aroma in your home. This is also a really cool blend to take with you if you're camping, because you can put this in a diffuser, a battery operated diffuser, and have it just spurred out at the. Camping table where you are trying, where you like to eat your meals and stuff. Or you can have it at your side table where your drinks are by the fire and definitely have one in your tent where you sleep. And you might be one of the hardcore people out there that don't even have a tent. I personally am a glamp and if there's not electricity and water, I'm not really going to be your best friend camping cuz I will probably be grumpy. I just like my creature comforts. Okay. And then another one that you can do with these essential oils if you have pets and particularly dogs because, well, no no living creature with blood in its system is safe. From mosquitoes. Mosquitoes love. All kinds. So for your dogs, they can get bit and they don't really know how to tell you. They just scratch more. And then you think they're irritated by something, but you don't know how to help them. So if you wanna deter mosquitoes from them, you can add these essential oils to their dog collars. Okay. Be very careful. Know your homework before you put any essential oils on any pets. Some are toxic, just like some plants are toxic for animals, but some that are safe would be cedarwood or lavender. Again, mix it with a little bit of a carrier oil, and then if you have a leather collar, this is perfect because it's almost like creating its own little perfume ring around the neck. So put that on there and then it will deter them. Avoid certain oils, as I mentioned, such as. Tea tree because those are toxic for both cats and dogs, so don't use that. Even though it's on their collar and they're not ingesting it, it will still soak into their skin and it is not safe for them. So I suggest Cedar, wood, or lavender. If you're gonna experiment with other essential oils, please do your research first just to make sure that they are safe. And if you're gonna use cedarwood or lavender, make sure that it is a pure grade essential oil, not a blend. Because some of these blends might have ingredients such as fragrance blend and you don't know exactly what's in it. So the last thing you want is a fragrance blend to ha have something inside that could harm your pet. All right. Lastly is on the do yourselfers is we have a mosquito repellent bracelet that you can create. So you mix one tablespoon of carrier oil, such as sweet almond or grape seed oil, and then 10 drops of your favorite essential oil. Such as citronella or lemon. You could lip, and I say your favorite, but you want it to be in these categories of what is mosquito deterrent, not just any essential oil will work. So if you prefer citronella over to lemon, you could lip this, then that would be your favorite, whichever one you chose. So soca fabric or a ribbon in the mixture, and then let it dry. Then tie that fabric around your wrist or ankle or even your neck. So think of like you could do a bandana. Or you could do, if you have an old flannel that got holes in it and or you were, gosh, climbing a tree with your kids and you, you know, it got ripped and you didn't wanna throw it out. That flannel is a great thing to absorb it because you just tear a strip off and then soak it in there and then tie it around your arm or your wrist or your ankle, or as I said, around your neck as a the Indiana. So that's just another way to apply the essential oils in a DIY self. Okay. Let's talk a little bit more specifically about the plants. I mentioned catnip and Mary Golds before, and I'll give you some more details about each of these catnip. It's an herb that's not just used for feline friends. It is also for repelling mosquitoes. Studies have shown that catnip can be 10 times more effective than deet at repelling mosquitoes. Hello. I am sure the makers of deet don't want you to know this, but I am telling you, so you're welcome. Marigolds. I love marigolds because I put them in my vegetable and fruit gardens. It's a natural compound called perram that it's used in insecticides, but it's all natural. So it's safe for you. It's safe for your garden, it's safe for the environment. It's citronella I mentioned, and if you had not smelled citronella before, it's divine. I love the smell of citronella. It's right up there with like fresh cut grass and summer fires, like it's just so I. Serene in a sense, and it just brings that. Feel of home. Back to me like that. Home. Good feel. All right. So citronella is a fragrant grass. It's commonly used in candles and torches that will re repel mosquitoes. It has a very robust lemony scent that masks the odors, that a, that masks the odors that attract mosquitoes. So it mosquitoes love the smell of your blood and your sweat. They also love garlic, so if you're going hiking or you're gonna be spending some time outside, Avoid the garlic because I don't know how well that citronella is going to mask the garlic, but mosquitoes love the smell of garlic. That's weird because they are kind of vampire ish and vampires don't like garlic. All right, I digress. So they don't like the smell of that lemony scent and it repels the mosquitoes. I mentioned I would talk about some brands that were good. So one of my favorites is Murphy's Naturals. They make a great citronella infused candle that works like a charm. But if you already have like an unscented or fragrance free candle that you like to use, you could always add. A little bit of essential oil to it as it's burning. Not too much. You do not want to catch fire. Essential oils can be highly flammable depending on what their base is. Some of them will use an alcohol base, and you do not want to catch fire, so just a little drop or two as the candle is burning so that it kind of sits in that pool of the candle, the wax that's there on top, and then it helps put off that scent. But do not put too much because that would be hazardous. In fact I would. Say, do a quick Google search to find out like how many drops to put in. I've done one or two, but the last thing I wanna do is cause a fire on your back porch. I would not do this inside either. If you want essential oils inside, I wouldn't add it to your candle just to be on the safe side. I would use a diffuser. Okay, the next one we come to, this herb is. Amazing for sleep, but it's also repels mosquitoes, and that's lavender. Okay? The natural oils in lavender with its calming aroma will not only help you relax, but it'll chill the mosquitoes that blank out because they don't want nothing to do with it. They're like, oh, see ya. We're outta here. So, Lavender oils are really great. Lemon balm. Okay, we talked about lemon balm before. I love it. Some people even just take this natural herb and put it in their iced teas. So lemon balm. You can do some fresh mint and lemon balm, but you could create your own little herb garden and put a pot outside by your door or by your regular garden and have lemon bomb in there cuz it's a member of the mint family. It emits a robust lemony scent. Mosquitoes cancel. Stand. It's easy to grow in your garden or a pot on your patio. Now, mental note, anything of a mint family. While it is awesome and beautiful when it grows, it is also invasive. So do not plant it. With other things in the same pot, put it in its own pot. I, when I first started my garden out back here in this new house, I say new house, we've been here five years, but when I started my mint out there, we had an old tire that I I had spray painted. With the non v o C paint and put out there just as a place for the mint to grow, that it would not grow into the other things of the garden. And it worked well. But over time, you know, it, the spray paint faded, it just, it got to look a little like Sanford and Suns. So I have since gotten rid of that. I've taken it back to the dump where I got it from because I was all about repurposing and or reusing and recycling what I could. And now I have a pretty. Brick circle that goes down deep into the ground a bit. And I have replanted my mint in there so that as it grows and fills that space in this season, it does not spill over into my other vegetables in the garden or the marigold. I mean, it'll take over. It's kind of like when if you ever have wild strawberries in your garden and they. They're just a vine that just keep multiplying and growing and then it'll get into your grass. Then the next thing you know, it's eaten up everything else that you love. So if you plant lemon balm, make sure that you put it in its own container or in a very restricted area, that it will not blend with other plants and eat them up. Peppermint. This is a refreshing herb with a strong scent that also repels mosquitoes and other pests. You can crush these leaves and rub them on your skin so you don't even have to like go buy the oil. You just take the peppermint leaves and crush it up, put it on your skin, rub it around, or you can get the essential oil and mix it with a carrier oil, and that is another natural mosquito repellent. Okay. This is the fun part for me. So this is talking about natural predators. We talked about not wanting pesticides to harm, to use pesticides to kill the mosquitoes because it also harms other beneficial creatures out there. And every little creature serves a purpose other than mosquitoes. I really don't know the purpose other than they're part of the food chain, and that's what these little creatures eat. But gosh, I would rather find something else for them to eat. This can't be their only diet, but I, so I wish we didn't have mosquitoes, but we do. So here's how we tolerate them. If you live in a wooded area, build a bat house, a little teeny square bat house high in a tree to attract bats to sleep in your yard at night. During the day, I mean, they're, they're nocturnal sleep in your yard during the day. They love mosquitoes. Baths are one of the best mosquito eating animals out there with some species able to consume over, get this 1000 mosquitoes in just one hour. Can you imagine that? Yeah. I really do want a bad house in my backyard. I just haven't done it yet. And I think we do have some my only concern is I've read that when you do do a bad house, if it's not far enough away from your house, they might actually come to your house and find. Crevice to go into any of spaces that you might have any gaps like in your eaves. So be very careful. Make sure it's far and away from your house that they're not gonna explore your area. It just depends on like how big your lot might be. And of course if you live in a neighborhood, you wanna make sure that it's okay, that it's allowed. But bats are great for it. So if you do find bats and they're in your house, don't kill'em. Just try and relocate them further away from your home so that they can still like save us from mosquitoes. All right, next up we have dragon flies. Dragon flies are Absolutely beautiful. I love watching them in nature. I've learned a little bit more in life to slow down. Not completely. I'm daring to do a better job, but I love watching them in their natural habitat. So dragon fries are beautiful insects, and they are great at controlling the mosquito population. They eat mosquitoes at all life stages, so not just in the mature stage, but they'll eat the larva too. So that is good to know and dragonflies are great to have around. And the last thing we want is to have any insecticides or pesticides in our yard that is going to harm these dragonflies, cuz we need them. We need them to get rid of these mosquitoes for us. All right, here's a bird I'm not too familiar with but. I've read good things about it for being mosquito deterrent, and it's called a Purple Martin. These birds are famous for backyard birdhouses and are known for their voracious appetite for mosquitoes and other flying insects, so it will help control the population of, of several flying insects. Like, think of nats and flies, like they're, they're just good to have around if they are local for your area. Ladybugs. All right. I love ladybugs. They are so precious. Ladybugs, I've heard, and this could just be a superstitious thing, I don't know, but if they land on you, it's considered good luck. So I have never, I don't think I've ever, I. I hope I've never afflicted lady bug off if I saw that on me. I knew when I was younger I used to get a little bit scared of it. And my middle child, my gosh, she almost had a panic attack when a, a lady bug lands anywhere near her. I still don't understand it. I just tried to help her off the ledge and then we calmly, safely move the lady bug to, you know, a safe place where she's not gonna get squished by my daughter who's freaked out by it. But lady bugs love to eat mosquitoes. They're cute, they're colorful, and they eat aphids and other plant pests. So lady books are just beneficial to have all around. They will even eat the larvae just like the dragon flies do. So if you ever have a ladybug land on, you remember, help him to safely transition or just let him fly away on his own. Okay. There's a couple more animals here, a couple more insects that will eat mosquitoes. And I'm grateful for them, even though I'm not always happy to have them around. But I'm grateful they do exist. Spiders, I. So spiders are something that I used to kill every time I saw one inside. I no longer do that. If it is a scary looking spider, I'll try and relocate it outside. If it's a small little spider in the corner in the bathroom and you come to my house and, and you see him ask me his name because I've probably named him because I don't mind a couple little house spiders in here as long as they are not dangerous to us, and they're not like completely invasive. They eat mosquitoes. And if a mosquito flies into my house, I want it to get stuck in that spiderweb and I wanna feed that spider. I do not want mosquitoes in my home, so I don't really do my best to eradicate spiders. Now, roaches, my God, I will do everything in my life to get rid of'em. I don't like to use pesticide sprays, but if I see a roach, I definitely am not pet-friendly when it comes to that. I just flat out squish him and get him outside. All right, so spiders. So I know not everybody likes spiders, but like I said, they're very beneficial in controlling mosquitoes. They catch mosquitoes and other insects in their webs, and they eat them for a tasty snack. So if you ever have ants or flies, like they're really good about getting those too. Here's one, you might have heard of the Praying Mantis. These fascinating insects are known for their unique appearance and predatory behavior and can help control mosquito populations as well. And they're really funky looking like if you've ever seen one up close, it's hard. You have to like do a double take. Is it a blade of grass or is they're preying mans? It's really neat to see them. So by encouraging the presence of these beneficial insects and mosquito eating animals in your outdoor space, you can help control mosquito populations without using harmful chemicals. You'll also enjoy nature's beauty and diversity in your own backyard. All right. I'm gonna try to start wrapping it up here for you guys, because I know I've talked so much about a lot of different ways to go about this, but there's a couple other things that you can do to help prevent or minimize. One is wearing protective clothing. I highly suggest against the clothing that is treated with chemicals. I'd prefer. To mix up my own essential oil blends or purchase something like Murphy's Oil mosquito control spray. They have a mosquito deterrent that you can actually spray on your skin or on your clothing that is safe for your body is deep free. And I prefer to use that than to buy mosquito controlled clothing. But again, To each their own. I'm here to encourage not, not shame. So you can wear protective clothing if you're going out for a hike in a mosquito season, even if it's hot outside. They do make clothing now that is lightweight, but is still long sleeves. So if you're gonna be working in your garden and, and the mosquitoes are out, wear long pants and shoes with socks and try to keep as much skin covered as possible. The natural repellants that I mentioned. Things that you can make yourself, things that you can buy, and then be aware of the mosquito activity time. They are most active at dusk and dawn, so early morning as the sun is coming up and late in the afternoon as the sun is going down, these are two prime times that mosquitoes are active. So if you can avoid being outdoors during those times, especially in an area where you know, in mosquitoes can be invasive, then avoid it. There are mosquito netting materials that you can put over your bed if you're camping, or you can create an outdoor indoor, an outdoor indoor patio, if that makes sense. So if you're camping, you can get like a canopy that has a mosquito netting that you can put around the edges that will help keep the bugs out. So it's almost like a Indoor outdoor screen porch is what I was saying. The mosquito repellent. I prefer using the mosquito repellent on my kids as much as possible. When it's bad, just because they'll take the bracelet off, they'll take the necklace off, they'll, I. Put their hair up. I mean, there's different things that I've tried to do, so I'll either spray it on their clothing or I'll put it on their skin. And Murphy's, as I mentioned, I know I keep talking about them, but they're just such a great brand. They have a spray now that is similar to the sunscreen spray, where it's just like a aerosol. And that works wonders. I actually didn't even know that they had it. I had a customer ask me specifically like, Ooh, can you get me this style of spray made without harmful chemicals? And I'm like, it's gotta exist. And thank God it did. So I was able to get her that because her son wouldn't. Do regular creams. When it came to sunscreen and he didn't like the spritzer kind, he didn't wanna rub it in, he just wanted to spray it and go. So when that, that's how he would do sunscreen. But he refused to do some of the regular spritz sea sprays on the mosquito repellent. And so she had asked for that specifically. And there you go. All right, so there you have it. Like there's the skinny on mosquito control. Why you should avoid the chemicals that are traditional in our society today to control them, whether it's a spray with DE or a chemicals that sprayed into the yard because you want to avoid harming any other beneficial insects as well as yourself. My friends, your health is your number. I'm gonna say it is your number two asset. Your time is your first and most valuable asset, but your health is number two. And what good is your time left on this earth without optimal health? So I think it's important that we take care of our bodies. All right, so there you have it. Ways to take care of mosquitoes naturally. I am Jaime Snell, your ECO Mama guide. And thank you so much for joining me today on the ECO Mama Podcast.